MoMA PS1

This museum brings together everything innovative, alternative, and revolutionary. The first exhibition in this abandoned space in Long Island City was organized by the independent P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center way back in 1976. It was all up-and-up from there: more artists from around the world, more events, more clout in the contemporary art community. In 1997, when P.S.1 opened its newly renovated spaces and exhibition halls, there was no doubt that it deserved to be regarded as one of the top contemporary art centers in America. In 2000, it became a forward-thinking, super-innovative branch of the legendary MoMA.

PS1 doesn't have a permanent collection, but it does have works on long-term loan. Check out Pipilotti Rist's video "Selbstlos im Lavabad," installed in the floor, or Ernesto Caivano's murals, which create the illusion of a forest.

FYI: Pay attention not only to the museum's space-age interior (the cupola is especially impressive), but also to the rooftop garden, which you can visit on a guided tour. They grow vegetables and unusual grasses here, and there's a practical reason for it. To learn more about the garden, head to the restaurant, M. Wells Dinette. It's designed like a classroom, with writing desks and a menu written on an authentic blackboard.

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